At a Glance
A lottery-demand Latin and humanities middle-high school in Longwood where roughly 78 families apply for each open seat.
Best suited for
Families who can win the lottery and want a small, humanities-and-Latin focused middle-high with an unusually wide extracurricular menu and a gentle discipline culture — and who are willing to actively support attendance and math growth outside the classroom.
Overall Rating
Grades 3–8
Rating = average of NY State ELA + math proficiency, grades 3–8
High school
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- An offer rate of just 1.3% makes Bronx Latin one of the hardest-to-get middle school seats in the entire borough.
- A 100/100 program richness score with Latin language, AP courses, robotics, drama, band, and a Saturday Academy — an unusually broad lineup for a middle-high.
- Zero suspensions reported — a rare combination with a high-needs population.
- The school's name is literal: Latin language study is woven into a humanities-centered curriculum.
- Parent satisfaction at 93% runs above the district average despite academic scores that trail the district.
Things to consider
- Math proficiency at 20.5% is roughly half the district average, and eighth-grade math specifically sits at just 7.1%.
- Getting in is a lottery — admission depends on luck as much as fit, and most who apply will be turned away.
- Chronic absenteeism at 57.4% means many students miss substantial chunks of the school year, which can compound academic gaps.
- Teacher-principal trust at 56% signals internal friction that doesn't show up in parent surveys but can affect day-to-day school life.
- ELA scores, while trending up from 2016, have swung by 10+ points between recent years — consistency isn't the strong suit.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 12
Across District 12, Bronx Latin sits below the median on both ELA and math proficiency, and its overall score of 1.16/4 trails the district average of 1.76/4. Peer schools like South Bronx Classical Charter and Bold Charter score higher on the program richness index, and traditional PS schools in the area serve larger elementary populations rather than competing for the same middle-school market.
Academics
ELA proficiency of 37.3% sits about seven points below the District 12 average of 44.6%, while math proficiency of 20.5% is dramatically lower than the district's 43.3% — fewer than one in five students hits math proficiency. Both subjects have improved meaningfully from 2016 (ELA rose from 24.1% and math from 17.6%), but the trajectory is bumpy: math jumped to 37% in 2023 before dropping back to 20.5% in 2025, and ELA has zig-zagged between 33% and 43% since 2022. The grade-by-grade split is striking — eighth graders post a respectable 51.2% ELA but only 7.1% math proficiency, suggesting math instruction at the middle-school level needs real attention.
Culture
Parents give the school a thumbs-up — 93% satisfaction and 92% trust in teachers — and the 62% family survey response rate shows families are genuinely engaged. Day-to-day, the school leans gentle: zero suspensions reported, well below the district. The weak spot is the relationship between teachers and leadership: only 56% of teachers say they trust their principal, and teacher survey participation was thin at 45 responses. Attendance is a real concern at 88.1% (below the district's 90.1%), and chronic absenteeism runs at 57.4%, meaning more than half the students miss 10% or more of the school year.
Community
The student body is 76% Hispanic, 19% Black, with small Asian, White, and Native American populations — a fairly concentrated demographic profile reflected in the school's 40% diversity index. The economic need index of 92.2% means nearly every student comes from a low-income household, and 25% have individualized education plans. The school sits in Longwood, where the median household income is $36,558 and 33% of residents live in poverty, so the surrounding community closely mirrors who walks through the doors.
Neighborhood
Longwood is a densely residential, working-class pocket of the South Bronx where most households rent (homeownership sits at just 12.7%) and only about 14% of households include children under 18. Educational attainment is modest — 15.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher — and the median home value of roughly $537,000 mostly reflects the broader Bronx housing market rather than local buying power. School families navigate a neighborhood built on subway commuting more than driving.
The school is a walk from three 2 and 5 train stops: Simpson St about 9 minutes, Intervale Av about 8 minutes, and Prospect Av about 11 minutes.
Academic Performance
ELA Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State ELA exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Math Proficiency
Students scoring proficient or above on the NY State Math exam.
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Historical Trends
The dashed line marks 2023, when New York changed its grades 3–8 state tests. Scores before and after it aren’t directly comparable.
2020–2021 data unavailable due to COVID-19
Source: NYC DOE School Quality Reports
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 279 families responded (62% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
We are a college preparatory high school that believes a student's best preparation for college is a rigorous high school curriculum with four years of rich math and science instruction. Students are programmed with the expectation of obtaining an Advanced Regents diploma, and are encouraged to take AP courses. All students prepare for SATs through a rigorous self-study program with the goal of 100% of the student body attending four-year colleges after graduation.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
Middle school (6th grade)
Middle school is one citywide application, made in 5th grade. We don't have Bronx Latin's program list, so read how each of its programs admits on MySchools before you rank it.
Middle school application
- Opened
- Wed, Oct 14
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 11
- Offers
- Wed, Apr 7
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the middle school application, in 5th grade.
- 2Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
High school (9th grade)
High school is one citywide application, made in 8th grade. Bronx Latin admits through one program, and each one has its own admissions method:
- Bronx LatinEd. Opt.
High school application
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Dec 4
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Apply on MySchools during the high school application, in 8th grade.
- 2Educational Option programs fill in equal shares across three reading levels, half by the school's ranking and half by lottery.
- 3Rank programs in true preference order — the match places your child in the highest-ranked one that offers a seat.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Bronx Latin a good school?
- On Motley, Bronx Latin earns an overall rating of 29/100 — the average of the school's New York State ELA and math proficiency, grades 3–8, shown out of 100. Its state test results run below the District 12 average. Its high school grades have their own rating, 61/100, from graduation and Regents results.
- What grades does Bronx Latin serve?
- Bronx Latin serves grades 6 to 12.
- How do students get into Bronx Latin?
- Bronx Latin uses the Educational Option (Ed-Opt) method, ranking applicants across performance levels so seats go to a mix of abilities.
- Is Bronx Latin public, charter, or private?
- Bronx Latin is a public school in NYC Community School District 12.
- What neighborhood is Bronx Latin in?
- Bronx Latin is in Longwood, Bronx.